Microsoft
Facts
- Sectors
- Technology, Workplace tools, Cloud
- Founded
- 1975
- Employees
- 221000
- Stage
- Public
Seattle Startup Boundless Reports H-1B Reforms Favor High Earners, Imposing $100,000 Fee, Raising Hiring Costs
New H-1B visa rules favor higher-wage international workers by giving them better lottery odds and imposing a $100,000 fee per application, making hiring more expensive for startups and rural employers. Seattle startup Boundless Immigration reports these reforms address previous criticisms but create challenges for entry-level international hires.
Seattle Students Compete in TiE Young Entrepreneurs Finals with AI Startup Winning Spot in Global Contest
Over 100 students from 20 teams competed in the TYE Seattle Chapter Finals pitching startups in AI, healthcare, nutrition, and recycling, with an AI-powered email assistant winning first place. The event featured a panel from Amazon, Microsoft, and OpenAI discussing career navigation in the AI era, and Seattle aims for a third consecutive global title next month.
Armada Grows Seattle-Area Team to 120 as Its Portable AI Data Centers Gain Adoption by Washington State and U.S. Navy
Armada, a San Francisco-based startup, has expanded its Bellevue, Washington engineering team to 120 employees to meet rising demand for its rugged AI data centers that operate in remote areas. Its technology supports critical clients like the Washington State Department of Natural Resources for wildfire connectivity and the U.S. Navy, backed by over $200 million in funding including from Microsoft.
2026 GeekWire Awards Celebrate Innovation with Luis Poggi and Tracy Drinkwater Among Honorees
The 2026 GeekWire Awards honored innovators reshaping work, building, and learning with highlights including STEM Educator of the Year Tracy Drinkwater and CEO of the Year Luis Poggi. The event featured finalists discussing AI and innovation, plus a trivia segment celebrating 15 years of GeekWire Awards history.
2026 GeekWire Awards Celebrate Seattle Tech Scene with Over 300 Attendees and Winners Including Carbon Robotics, HouseWhisper AI, and Omeros
The 2026 GeekWire Awards celebrated Seattle's vibrant tech community with over 300 attendees honoring top startups, founders, and leaders across multiple categories at Showbox SoDo. The event highlighted Seattle as a hub for innovation with winners like Carbon Robotics, HouseWhisper AI, and Omeros recognized for their contributions.
XBOW Raises $35M from NVIDIA, Samsung, and SentinelOne, Totaling $155M in Series C for Autonomous Cybersecurity Platform
XBOW, a cybersecurity startup founded by GitHub Copilot creator Oege de Moor, raised an additional $35 million in its Series C round, bringing the total to $155 million with investors like NVIDIA, Samsung, and SentinelOne. Although headquartered in Seattle by address—a mailbox at a coworking space—the company operates remotely with employees worldwide and its founder based in Malta.
Seattle-Area Tech Veterans Acquire New England Eagles Minor League Cricket Team to Develop USA Talent Pipeline
Five Seattle-area tech veterans with leadership experience from major companies have acquired the New England Eagles Minor League Cricket franchise in Boston to support the sport's talent pipeline. They prioritize developing pathways for local players to reach Team USA, despite the team being located 3,000 miles away.
T.A. McCann Becomes CEO of Lev, AI-Powered Startup Spun Out From Pioneer Square Labs with $1M Investment
T.A. McCann, after eight years as managing director at Pioneer Square Labs, is now CEO of Lev, an AI-powered co-founder platform designed to help early-stage entrepreneurs by automating guidance and validation. Lev, spun out from PSL and backed with over $1 million in investment, aims to scale founder support using AI tools for ideation, validation, and company formation.
Seattle AI Startup Convexus Uses Anthropic’s Claude API to Turn Civic Debate into Coordinated Action
Seattle startup Convexus, co-founded by mother and daughter Merrill and Doña Keating, uses AI to transform fragmented civic debates into coordinated actions for local governments and community groups. Their platform employs AI-assisted facilitation to identify shared goals and foster productive dialogue, aiming to move beyond division prevalent in traditional social media.
Seattle VC Flying Fish Partners Joins $1.1B Seed Round for DeepMind’s David Silver’s Startup Ineffable Intelligence
Seattle-based VC firm Flying Fish Partners secured a spot in the $1.1 billion seed round for DeepMind legend David Silver's startup Ineffable Intelligence through years of relationship-building and strategic early investments. Despite managing less than $250 million, their networking and persistence led to participation alongside major investors like Sequoia Capital and Lightspeed Venture Partners.
Sequoia and Nvidia Back David Silver’s Ineffable Intelligence at $5.1B Valuation
Sequoia Capital and Nvidia backed Ineffable Intelligence, the London AI startup founded by AlphaGo creator David Silver, at a $5.1 billion valuation despite the company having no product, revenue, or public roadmap; Nvidia’s venture arm invested at least $250 million and Sequoia led the round. Silver left DeepMind in late 2025 after over a decade building landmark systems like AlphaGo, AlphaZero and AlphaStar.
Google commits $10B cash, up to $30B conditional and 5GW compute to Anthropic as Claude hits $30B ARR
Google will invest $10B cash plus up to $30B conditional and provide 5 GW of compute over five years in Anthropic, bringing its total commitment to about $43B as Anthropic’s Claude reaches $30B ARR and outperforms Google’s Gemini in the enterprise market.
Iridius Raises $8.6M Seed Round to Embed Regulatory Compliance in AI, Backed by Accenture and Led by Microsoft, AWS Veterans
Seattle startup Iridius, founded by former Microsoft and AWS veterans, raised $8.6 million in seed funding to develop software that embeds regulatory compliance into AI systems during operation. Accenture is both an investor and strategic partner, with initial focus on life sciences and pharmaceutical industries.
Amazon to invest up to $25B in Anthropic as Anthropic pledges $100B in AWS spending over 10 years
Amazon will invest up to $25 billion in AI lab Anthropic (an immediate $5B plus $20B tied to milestones) while Anthropic commits to spend over $100 billion on AWS cloud services, including Trainium chips and up to 5 GW of compute, over the next ten years.
Anoop Gupta Steps Down as SeekOut CEO, Sean Thompson Named Successor to Drive AI Recruiting Growth
Anoop Gupta is stepping down as CEO of SeekOut on May 4 to become executive chairman, passing leadership to Sean Thompson, who will focus on scaling SeekOut's AI recruiting service and pursuing acquisitions for growth. Thompson, an enterprise tech veteran, previously led NAVEX and has experience with SAP, Microsoft, and AI startups.
Anthropic receives $800 billion valuation offers as annualised revenue reaches $30 billion; IPO talks with Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan underway
Anthropic has received investor offers valuing the company at about $800 billion after its annualised revenue accelerated from $1 billion at end-2024 to $30 billion by early April 2026, and the company is holding IPO talks with Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan.
2026 GeekWire Awards Finalists Include AIM Intelligent Machines with $50M Funding and $4.9M Air Force Contracts for Autonomous Earthmovers
The 2026 GeekWire Awards announced finalists for Hardware/Robotics/Physical AI of the Year, highlighting startups innovating with autonomous heavy machinery, drones, spatial computing, and space robotics. Notable finalist AIM Intelligent Machines secured $50 million funding in 2025 and $4.9 million in U.S. Air Force contracts for autonomous earthmoving equipment.
GeekWire Week in Review (April 5, 2026): Microsoft and Amazon moves, Washington non‑compete ban, Anduril warships, Bryson DeChambeau backs Sportsbox AI
A roundup of GeekWire’s most-read technology and startup stories for the week of April 5, 2026, covering major moves at Microsoft and Amazon, Washington state’s new non‑compete ban, Anduril’s autonomous warship work, NASA Artemis images, and notable local business and investment news.
Humanly Raises $25M to Deliver AI-Vetted Job Seekers and Launch Candidate Coaching Products
Humanly raised $25 million in Series B funding to expand from providing AI-powered recruiting tools for employers to delivering pre-vetted, ready-to-hire job seekers on demand, alongside launching AI coaching products for candidates. The company aims to build a continuously updated database of screened job seekers to serve as a staffing agency replacement.
Microsoft AI Leader Eric Boyd Joins Anthropic; Tagboard CEO Nathan Peterson Steps Down with Marty Roberts Taking Over
Eric Boyd, a longtime Microsoft AI leader, has joined Anthropic to lead its infrastructure team after nearly 17 years at Microsoft. Meanwhile, Nathan Peterson is stepping down as CEO of Tagboard, with Marty Roberts, the former COO, set to succeed him.
Former Tableau Chief Product Officer Francois Ajenstat Launches Golden Analytics with $7M Seed to Create AI-Native BI Platform
Francois Ajenstat, former Tableau chief product officer, has launched Golden Analytics with $7 million in seed funding to build an AI-native business intelligence platform that emphasizes automated insights and user control. The Seattle-based startup aims to advance BI by integrating AI at its core rather than as an add-on.
Seattle Startup Glacis Hires Microsoft Azure Vet Rohit Tatachar as CTO to Launch AI Monitoring Tools
Seattle startup Glacis appointed longtime Microsoft Azure executive Rohit Tatachar as CTO and co-founder to develop tamper-proof AI behavior records. The company launched open-source tools enabling monitoring and control of AI agents to ensure safety and accountability.
Seattle Entrepreneur Robbie Cape Launches New Stealth Startup After Nine-Month Job Search
Seattle tech entrepreneur Robbie Cape ended his nine-month job search by launching a new startup incorporated in March, with key early team members including CTO T Van Doren and CPO Matt Witcher. Cape is keeping the venture details private but is enthusiastic about shaping the company's future and applying lessons from his prior startups like 98point6 and Mt. Joy.
Data Visualization Veterans Ellie Fields and Jeffrey Heer Launch Ridge AI with $2.6M Led by Madrona to Enhance SaaS Analytics
Data visualization experts Ellie Fields and Jeffrey Heer launched Ridge AI with $2.6M in pre-seed funding from Madrona and prominent angels to help SaaS companies embed interactive analytics and AI data agents quickly into their products. Ridge AI aims to fix persistent issues in web-based data presentation by enabling rapid creation of interactive dashboards and data agents sharing the same dataset.
Convoy Co-founder Dan Lewis Shares Startup Culture and Leadership Lessons at 2026 Seattle AI Summit
Dan Lewis, Convoy co-founder and Microsoft VP, shared lessons from building the now-shuttered unicorn startup at the 2026 Seattle AI Startup Summit, emphasizing deliberate culture shaping, codifying values based on proven practices, and ensuring employees understand the 'why' behind decisions. His insights aim to help entrepreneurs create strong startups by fostering ownership and intentional culture design.
People
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Ali Farhadi Executive, Former Allen Institute for AI CEO
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Bill Gates Executive, Former CEO, Co-founder
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Dan Lewis Executive, Corporate Vice President
